Undercover Factory Farm Exposé Nets Prestigious Webby Awards

A video from an undercover investigation of a pig factory farm earned both a 2013 Webby People's Voice Award and a Webby Winner Award. The video, called “Undercover at a Tyson Pig Supplier,” was shot in April 2012 at Wyoming Premium Farms, a pig factory farm in Wheatland, Wyo. that at the time of the investigation was supplying pigs to meat giant Tyson Foods. It shows workers kicking living piglets like soccer balls, swinging sick piglets in circles by their hind legs, striking mother pigs with their fists and repeatedly and forcefully kicking them as they resisted leaving their young. As a result of the exposé, five Wyoming Premium workers recently pleaded guilty to criminal animal cruelty.

The Webby Awards comes at a time when factory farm lobbyists are working to silence undercover investigators by passing “ag gag” laws that would criminalize the work of whistleblowers.

The video was created by The Humane Society of the United States, which also conducted the undercover investigation.

“These awards underscore the importance of exposés that the agribusiness industry is now trying to ban with anti-whistleblower laws,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for investigations for The HSUS. “People clearly want more, not less, transparency when it comes to knowing how animals are mistreated on factory farms like this one that was supplying pigs to Tyson Foods.”

Hailed as the “Internet's highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. The HSUS’ video won top awards for the category of Public Service and Activism. The People’s Voice Award is determined by votes from the public, while the Webby Winner Award is determined by an official Webby jury.